 Over these burgesses the lords could claim jurisdictional rights, and these were in some cases increased by royal grants of special rights within certain sokes.The great boroughs were honeycombed with sokes, or areas of seignorial jurisdiction, within which the royal reeve's authority was greatly restricted while that of the lord's reeve took precedence.Even the haws, being "burhs" or strongholds within a stronghold, enjoyed a local "peace" which protected from official intrusion.